Brstjjy

Lesser Antilles Kleine Antillen  (Dutch) Petites Antilles  (French) Antiyas Minores  (Papiamento) Antillas Menores  (Spanish)
Region of the Caribbean
Location within the Caribbean
Region	Caribbean
Island States	24  Anguilla (UK)  Antigua and Barbuda  Aruba (NL)  Barbados  Bonaire (NL)  British Virgin Islands (UK)  Curaçao (NL)  Dominica  Grenada  Federal Dependencies of Venezuela (VE)  Guadeloupe (FR)  Martinique (FR)  Montserrat (UK)  Nueva Esparta (VE)  Saba (NL)  Saint Barthélemy (FR)  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Martin (FR)  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Sint Eustatius (NL)  Sint Maarten (NL)  Trinidad and Tobago  United States Virgin Islands (US)
Area
• Total	14,364 km2 (5,546 sq mi)
Population (2009)
• Total	3,949,250
• Density	274.9/km2 (712/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Lesser Antillean
Time zone	UTC−4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−3 (ADT)

The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most form a long, partly volcanic island arc between the Greater Antilles to the north-west and the continent of South America.^[1] The islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Together, the Lesser Antilles and the Greater Antilles compose the Antilles (or the Caribbean in its narrowest definition). When combined with the Lucayan Archipelago, all three are known as the West Indies.

Geography

The islands of the Lesser Antilles are divided into three groups: the Windward Islands in the south, the Leeward Islands in the north, and the Leeward Antilles in the west.

The Windward Islands are so called because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds blow east to west. The trans-Atlantic currents and winds that provided the fastest route across the ocean brought these ships to the rough dividing line between the Windward and Leeward Islands.

The Leeward Antilles consist of the Dutch ABC islands just off the coast of Venezuela, plus a group of Venezuelan islands.

Geological formation

The Lesser Antilles more or less coincide with the outer edge of the Caribbean Plate. Many of the islands were formed as a result of the subduction of oceanic crust of the Atlantic Plate under the Caribbean Plate in the Lesser Antilles subduction zone. This process is ongoing and is responsible not only for many of the islands, but also for volcanic and earthquake activity in the region. The islands along the South American coast are largely the result of the interaction of the South American Plate and the Caribbean Plate which is mainly strike-slip, but includes a component of compression.

Political divisions

The Lesser Antilles are divided into eight independent nations and numerous dependent and non-sovereign states (which are politically associated with the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and the United States). Over one third of the total area and population of the Lesser Antilles lies within Trinidad and Tobago, a sovereign nation comprising the two southernmost islands of the Windward Island chain.

Sovereign states

Non-sovereign states/countries and territories

Several islands along the north coast of Venezuela and politically part of that country are also occasionally considered part of the Lesser Antilles. These are listed in the section below.

Islands

The main Lesser Antilles are (from north to south to west):

Leeward Islands

• 
  Virgin Islands
  
  
  
  • 
    St. Thomas (US)
  
  
  • 
    St. John (US)
  
  
  • 
    St. Croix (US)
  
  
  • 
    Water Island (US)
  
  
  • 
    Tortola (UK)
  
  
  • 
    Virgin Gorda (UK)
  
  
  • 
    Anegada (UK)
  
  
  • 
    Jost Van Dyke (UK)
  
  
  
  


• 
  Anguilla (UK)


• 
  Saint Martin (Fr.) / Sint Maarten (Neth.)


• 
  Saint Barthélemy (Fr.)


• 
  Saba (Neth.)


• 
  Sint Eustatius (Neth.)


• 
  Saint Kitts (St. Kitts and Nevis)


• 
  Nevis (St. Kitts and Nevis)


• 
  Barbuda (Antigua and Barbuda)


• 
  Antigua (Antigua and Barbuda)


• 
  Redonda (Antigua and Barbuda) uninhabited


• 
  Montserrat (UK)


• 
  Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre (often combined as Guadeloupe) (Fr.)


• 
  La Désirade (Guadeloupe dependency) (Fr.)


• 
  Marie-Galante (Guadeloupe dependency) (Fr.)


• 
  les Saintes archipelago (Guadeloupe dependency) (Fr.)

Windward Islands

• 
  Dominica (Dominica)


• 
  Martinique (Fr.)


• 
  Saint Lucia (St. Lucia)


• 
  Barbados (Barbados is a Continental island found 100 miles (160 km) east of the Windward chain)^[2][3][4]
  


• 
  Saint Vincent (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)


• 
  Grenadines (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)


• 
  Carriacou and Petite Martinique (Grenada)


• 
  Grenada (Grenada)


• Tobago


• 
  Trinidad (Sometimes considered part of the Windward Islands. They are the most southern islands of the Caribbean region. See Islands of Trinidad and Tobago.^[1][5][6]
  

Leeward Antilles

Map of the Leeward Antilles

Islands north of the Venezuelan coast (from west to east):

• 
  Aruba (Neth.)


• 
  Curaçao (Neth.)


• 
  Bonaire (Neth.)


• 
  Federal Dependencies of Venezuela (Ven)
  
  
  
  • Los Roques Archipelago
  
  
  • La Orchila
  
  
  • La Tortuga
  
  
  • La Blanquilla
  
  
  
  


• 
  Nueva Esparta (Ven)
  
  
  
  • Margarita Island
  
  
  • Coche
  
  
  • Cubagua
  
  
  
  

See also

• Greater Antilles


• Lucayan Archipelago


• Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

Notes

References

• Rogonzinski, Jan. A Brief History of the Caribbean. New York: Facts on File, 1992.

External links

• The Lesser Antilles Island Arc: Structure And Geogynamic Evolution

The dictionary definition of Lesser Antilles at Wiktionary

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lesser Antilles.

Coordinates: 14°14′N 61°21′W / 14.233°N 61.350°W / 14.233; -61.350